At 28, she's probably the youngest ever dame | UK news | The Guardian At 28, she's probably the youngest ever dame Tuesday 8 February 2005 19.48 EST First published on Tuesday 8 February 2005 19.48 EST Share on Messenger Close Ellen MacArthur is not only the youngest women to be honoured for circumnavigating the globe, she is also thought to be the youngest ever created a dame. The 28-year-old follows a distinguished line of nautical pioneers rewarded by Downing Street for their achievement in sailing round the world. In modern times, a flotilla of solo yachtsmen and women have been recognised for their battles of endurance with the oceans. Sir Francis Chichester was knighted in 1967 for being the first to complete the voyage, stopping only once en route. Two years later, Robin Knox Johnson became the first person to sail around the world non-stop. He had to wait until 1995, however, before being granted his knighthood.

Likewise, Chay Blyth, who in 1971 became the first person to sail single-handed around the world westwards - against prevailing winds and currents - was not knighted until 1997. Previously the youngest woman to be honoured was the New Zealander Dame Naomi James. She was 29 when she was rewarded for breaking the solo round-the-world sailing record by two days in 1979. She was also the first woman to sail solo around the globe via Cape Horn. Circumnavigating the globe has commanded the popular imagination and been officially rewarded since the 16th century. Sir Francis Drake, who became the first Englishman to succeed in 1580, received £10,000 from Queen Elizabeth I. The Cabinet Office yesterday said it believed Ms MacArthur was the youngest ever dame, but admitted that in the years following the creation of the honour in 1917 it was considered impertinent to record a woman's age.

Announcing the honour, Downing Street said: "The Queen has been pleased to approve that Ellen Patricia MacArthur MBE be appointed a Dame Commander of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on the occasion of her record-breaking, solo circumnavigation." Tony Blair said "the whole country was proud of her". 11 top female sailors - YBW YBW 0shares 0shares We've compiled a list of some of the top female sailors in the world. Who would you nominate? TAGS: ellen macarthur jeanne socrates pippa wilson sailor These 11 women have all achieved excellence as sailors, accomplishing astonishing feats of bravery, stamina and skill at the helm. From single-handed circumnavigations of the globe to Olympic gold medals, these are some of our favourite female trailblazers in the world of sailing. Who would you add to the list of top female sailors?

Tweet us on @ybw Dame Ellen MacArthur “Courage is not having the energy to go on, it’s going on when you do not have the energy.” Dame Ellen MacArthur broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, completing the 27,354 nautical mile trip in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. She beat the previous record by one day, eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. The retired British sailor loved life on the water from a young age and has previously competed in the Mini Transat solo transatlantic race and the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world sailing race. Shirley Robertson, MBE and OBE This Scottish sailor made it into the history books when she became the first British woman to win two Olympic gold medals at two consecutive Olympic games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 competing in the Yngling class. She went on to be named female World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation and was awarded an MBE in 2000 and an OBE in 2005.

Shirley worked hard to raise the profile of the sport, presenting and producing CNN’s Mainsail programme and as a BBC Olympic sailing commentator in Weymouth during the London 2012 Olympics. She is also the only woman to take the helm on the superyacht circuit steering the stunning 45-metre Salperton in three regattas in the Caribbean and Sardina. Dame Naomi James “What I did was completely different. Ellen is a professional racer; I was an adventurer.” Dame Naomi James was the first woman to sail single-handed around the world via Cape Horn. She left Dartmouth in Devon on 9 September 1977 and returned 272 days later on 8 June 1978. New Zealand-born Naomi was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 in recognition of her achievements.

Laura Dekker “There were moments where I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?,’ but I never wanted to stop.” At the age of 13, Laura Dekker announced she wanted to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly, prompting the Guinness World Records to stop recognising records for “youngest” sailors. The Dutch authorities objected to her plans and she fought a 10-month court battle to follow her dream. She eventually persuaded judges to allow her departure after agreeing to upgrade to a bigger boat with better navigation equipment, undertake training in first aid and learn how to cope with sleep deprivation. In August 2010, she set sail on her epic journey onboard her two-masted ketch and arrived, 5,600 nautical miles later, at Simpson Bay on St Maarten in January 2012 – breaking the world record. She was only 16 years and four months of age. Jeanne Socrates “I’m not really an armchair and slippers person.” In 2013, British sailor Jeanne Socrates became the oldest woman to sail solo round the world non-stop.

This was the 70-year-old’s third attempt to complete the 25,000-mile circumnavigation on her 38ft yacht Nereida. After 259 days at sea, Jeanne returned triumphant back to British shores. Earlier this year she was awarded with the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal following her successful voyage. Pippa Wilson, MBE Pippa Wilson continues to be one of the UK’s best female sailors. She won a gold medal in the Yngling sailing class at the 2008 Beijing Olympics along with Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton, gold in two World Championships and gold in one European Championships. Sarah Ayton, OBE Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton is another of the UK’s most successful British female sailors. With two Olympic gold medals under her belt, along with two gold World Championship medals and one gold European Championship medal. Sarah won an Olympic gold medal alongside Shirley Robertson and Sarah Gosling in the Yngling sailing class in 2004, and again in 2008 with Pippa Wilson and Sarah Gosling.

Sarah Gosling, OBE This Olympian is another of Britain’s great female sailors, having won two Olympic gold medals, two gold World Championship medals and one gold European Championship medal. Sarah won all her medals in the Yngling sailing class alongside Shirley Robertson, Pippa Wilson and Sarah Ayton. Already an MBE, Sarah was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list. Denise “Dee” Caffari, MBE Record-setting Dee Caffari came to sailing relatively late after spending five years as a physical education teacher. In 2006, Caffari became the first woman to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe against prevailing winds and currents after 178 days at sea, having started in late 2005. Just under three years later, in February 2009, Dee Caffari completed the Vendee Globe race, setting a new record and becoming the first woman to sail around the world in both directions. Kay Cottee, AO Awarded the Order of Australia, Cottee was the first woman to successfully complete a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe.

Cottee achieved the feat in 1988 in her 11m yacht Blackmores First Lady, and she did it in just 189 days. Cottee established the trip that is routinely tried by sailors chasing speed records and completed it alone, without stopping and without assistance. She was even washed overboard when her yacht capsized in 20 foot waves. Her achievement is as impressive as it is daunting to imagine, and fortunately she didn’t celebrate the achievement alone: nearly 100,000 Australians were awaiting her in Sydney Harbour when she returned. Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz And last, but certainly not least, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe is also a sea captain and shipbuilding engineer. Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz set off on February 28, 1976 from the Canary Islands on her own in her 10m yacht Mazurek, returning 401 days later on April 21, 1978. The Polish sailor has been called the “First Lady of the Oceans” and was inducted into the elite Explorers Club in New York.

She narrowly beat New Zealander Naomi James (above) who completed her own circumnavigation on June 8, 1978. QUEEN HONOURS DAME ELLEN MAC ARTHUR SOLO NAVIGATION RECORD 8 FEBRUARY 2005 B&Q CASTORAMA Around the world ... in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes Ellen MacArthur is to be made a Dame after record voyage. LONDON (AFP) ï¿½ Ellen MacArthur, the fastest ever sailor to complete a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe, is to be made a Dame in honor of her achievement, the Prime Minister's office said on Tuesday. Earlier Queen Elizabeth congratulated the 28-year-old Briton, who completed her marathon journey in 71 days 14 hours 18 minutes and 35 seconds. "I'm delighted to learn that you have completed your round-the-world journey in record time," she said. "This is a stunning achievement," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "The whole country is very proud of Ellen." In addition, the Royal Navy said MacArthur would be made an honorary naval officer, holding the title of Lt.

Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve. French President Jacques Chirac also hailed her "extraordinary performance." MacArthur speaks French fluently, and her trip was followed widely in France. No one should underestimate what Ellen has just done. When Francis Joyon broke the round-the-world record just a year ago it was viewed as a huge achievement. And it was. When Ellen set off, few people in sailing thought she could do it, especially so hot on the foot of Joyon. Many people thought she'd put up a good performance or suffer boat damage or gear failure, but not set a new world record first time out. Ellen MacArthur last night confirmed her status as one of the most remarkable sailors in the history of her sport, setting a new world record for single-handed circumnavigation in dramatic circumstances off the northern coast of France . At 10.29pm - 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds after starting her voyage - MacArthur steered her 70ft trimaran, B&Q, across a finishing line just north of the lighthouse at Ushant, Brittany, and into the record books.

Shepherded home by a 16-knot south-easterly that brought her home three hours earlier than expected, MacArthur beat the record set last year by the Frenchman Francis Joyon by one day, eight hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds, and brought to an end a 27,354-mile voyage that saw her brave South Atlantic icebergs and Pacific swells to add sailing's most taxing record to her already remarkable achievements. Ellen MacArthur aboard her trimaran Castorama - B & Q The feat was greeted with a shower of champagne by her shore team in the National Maritime Museum at Falmouth, Cornwall. News of the record-breaking moment was relayed to Falmouth by Claude Breton, an official from the World Speed Sailing Records Council waiting in the lighthouse in Ushant to sight a strobe on B&Q's mast. Moments after the champagne flowed in Falmouth, MacArthur called in to greet the end of a gruelling 10-week journey. Speaking to Mark Turner, her business partner and team manager, she said: "I feel totally elated and utterly drained," she said. "It has been a very difficult trip all the way.

The South Atlantic was terrible for us and all the way back up was incredibly hard, but I am delighted to be here. The one thing I would really like to do is to see my family, because they have suffered through with me every step of the way." Mr Turner said: "This is the best moment of all. It's been incredibly hard." In the final hours of a journey that pushed MacArthur's powers of endurance to their limit, her trimaran was accompanied by HMS Severn, a Royal Navy patrol vessel carrying members of her shore crew and her doctor. Within moments of passing the finishing line, members of her team boarded B&Q to steer her towards a reception in Falmouth this morning, where several thousand people are expected to line the dockside. She was given immediate attention by her personal physician, Dr Kevin McNeel. "I suspect Ellen is physically spent," he said. "She looks after the boat better than herself." MacArthur's achievement follows her record, in 2001, as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe and the fastest woman.

ELLEN MACARTHUR SOLO ROUND THE WORLD - NEW SOLO TIMES: Ushant-Equator 8d 18h 20m 7/12/04 0230GMT (taking 14h 3m off Joyon's time) Ushant-Cape of Good Hope 19d 9h 46m 17/12/04 1756GMT (taking 10h 45m off Joyon's time) Ushant-Cape Leeuwin 29d 14h 5m 27/12/04 2215GMT (taking 17h 24m off Joyon's time) Ushant-Cape Horn 44d 23h 36m 12/1/04 0746GMT (taking 4 days 2h 45m off Joyon's time) Ushant-Equator 60d 13h 35m 27/1/05 2145GMT (taking 1d 10h 50

m off Joyon's time) Equator-Equator record of 51 days, 19 hours and 15 minutes With her record-breaking solo round-the-world voyage, she has secured her place as a sporting superstar.

So why is Britain still ambivalent about Ellen MacArthur? Francis Chichester's solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1967 (the first with only one stop) caught the imagination of the country. His homecoming, after 220 days at sea, attracted 250,000 well-wishers; commemorative mugs were struck his boat, Gipsy Moth IV, was taken to Greenwich to be exhibited beside the famous tea clipper, the Cutty Sark . In a brilliant symbolic gesture, he was knighted at Greenwich, the Queen dubbing him Sir Francis by touching his shoulders with the same sword Queen Elizabeth I had used to knight his namesake, Sir Francis Drake. One bright (then still newish and hopeful) Elizabethan age was proudly nodding to another. Chichester's record meant less than the historical resonances. He was described not as a sportsman but as an "adventurer". He was claiming a place in history, not competing to be sports personality of the year. Congratulations again Ellen from Solar Navigator HQ Almost 40 years later, Ellen MacArthur's record-breaking round-the-world voyage has generated markedly less euphoria.

Dead Ringers lampoons her mercilessly. One newspaper diarist demanded a news blackout - "It's the only way she's ever going to stop." "When she completes her solo round-the-world trip, can she take the stabilisers off?" mocked a letter-writer in the Daily Mail. One columnist described MacArthur's online photo as "the most heart-sinking image to be beamed down a webcam since Leslie Grantham appeared to be encouraging a young lady to suck her index finger". There were waves of protest from readers, yet quite a few eddies of agreement, too, from those who thought MacArthur's publicity-savvy voyage a pointless, self-serving exercise. She divides the nation in a way that Chichester (and, I imagine, Drake) never did. Why? The advance in technology has changed our perspective. Chichester's craft was recognisably a yacht; MacArthur's sleek 75ft trimaran, built for ï¿½1.5m, has a much less homely look. The previously supportive Sunday Telegraph took an unexpected swipe at it last weekend.

"At 30 knots, a speed a big tri can sustain for hours, the sensation is like going down the runway in a plane with no undercarriage," said the paper. "What is a girl who loves the sea, understands the poetry of boats, can weep at the sight of a sunset in the Southern Ocean, doing in such a contraption?" (Calling it B&Q was a mistake, too. Imagine how B&Q would look sitting next to the Cutty Sark at Greenwich? Maybe a dock could be built for it at Brent Cross instead?) Robin Knox-Johnston , a MacArthur supporter who plans to be at Falmouth for the formal welcome, has drawn an instructive contrast between his round-the-world voyage in 1968-69 (the first non-stop solo circumnavigation) and MacArthur's. "My boat, Suhaili, was small and wooden," he has said. "MacArthur's boat is three times as long as mine, half as heavy and has sails three or four times larger. To navigate, I had a sextant and a chronometer. The equipment had changed very little since Captain Cook's time.

MacArthur has GPS, which updates every three seconds, telling you where you are, what speed you are doing and what direction you're going in. You don't need to navigate." Knox-Johnston, too, was an adventurer, not a sportsman. For eight months, he was out of radio contact and resorted to memorising Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard to keep his brain active. MacArthur has her own website, Team Ellen (a grisly name, inviting us all to come on board), and 12 webcams on the boat. We are being encouraged to share the experience, yet the immediacy serves only to lessen the sense of achievement. Ellen toasting success onboard Kingfisher 2001 Captain Joshua Slocum, a 19th-century Bostonian who is reputed to be the first person to sail solo (with many stops) around the world, said he had only one assistant - the ghost of a mariner who had sailed with Columbus . MacArthur is backed by an armada of personnel. Even her fans have to accept that some of the poetry has been lost, and not just Gray's Elegy.

In the age of GPS and instant mobile communications, it is no longer feasible to be an adventurer. Polar "explorers" face the same problem: it is almost impossible to boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before, and even if you manage it there will be a helicopter hovering overheard when you get there. Captain Scott froze to death and became immortal; now he would send a panicky email, be picked up in a couple of hours and sell his story to the Daily Mail. To involve us in her quest, MacArthur has kept a weblog detailing her emotional highs and lows. This may have been a mistake. Take her collision with a whale, an event with great literary potential. "I saw a whale very, very close to the boat and it was just in front of us, and sailed right over it. It went underneath our starboard float and as it went underneath us it blew its air tanks out and its nose came out of the water. I didn't see its tail, but it must have been about 30 feet long." A little matter-of-fact for so momentous an event. Brief, too. Herman Melville got 300,000 words out of something similar.

MacArthur's critics also complain that she moans too much. "I am running close to empty. Physically I am exhausted," she whinged recently, "not just from the effort of sailing Mobi [her pet name for the boat] so hard, but from the constant motion which makes even standing impossible. This trip has taken pretty much ALL I have, every last drop and ounce." This criticism is surely unfair (though moaning about a lack of wind in the doldrums does seem a bit bizarre); who wouldn't be peevish after 70 days with two or three hours' sleep a night and a diet that consists largely of chewing gum? The whingeing is forgiveable; the psycho babble into which she sometimes lapses less so. "The last few days have not been just testing, but have taken me once again a long way inside myself to find the strength to keep sailing safely." What happened to the stiff upper lip; good old British phlegm? When the Armada was sighted, Drake carried on playing bowls. He just didn't do angst. Jim Holden, chief sportswriter of the Sunday Express, has hailed MacArthur's new record as "the single greatest sporting feat of the year ...

In any sport. In any nation." But in what sense is this a sport? Sport relies on that beloved cliche, the level playing field. In ocean racing, no two boats are the same. MacArthur's boat is four times faster than Knox-Johnston's; that doesn't make her a four-times better sailor. The reverse might even be true. Today's round-the-world sailors are neither adventurers nor sports people; they are akin to those early aviators who sought to break records for the sheer hell of it. Ellen MacArthur is the Amelia Earhart de nos jours. Though criticised as one-dimensional, there are many admirable facets to MacArthur's character and achievement. The drive that enabled her to become a great mariner despite being born in landlocked Derbyshire; the fact that she has broken a record held by a Frenchman; the splendidly ruthless way she disposed of her Portuguese lover (who then sold his story to the press and complained about her obsessiveness); the way she refuses to say she is doing it for women everywhere. So arise, Dame Ellen.

But please, next time you decide to go round the world, do it in a skiff, get a ghost for company and keep your thoughts to yourself until you come ashore. Superb signed Limited Edition Print now available - click picture for details WHAT OTHER SPORTS PERSONS SAY ABOUT ELLEN: Debra Veal, rowed across the Atlantic alone in 2002 when her husband left the boat after developing an uncontrollable fear of the ocean People find it hard to grasp the concept of women going out doing extraordinary things, encroaching on the men's domain. Also, people just can't take the fact that she's successful - they're jealous. They find it hard to empathise with her because they don't understand why she's putting herself through it. You can't understand what it's like being all alone in the middle of the ocean unless you've been there. It's one of the most empowering and simultaneously crippling experiences. But she's also a very astute businesswoman; she and her business partner have been very clever to build Ellen MacArthur the brand.

Steve Fossett, adventurer who set 23 official world records in sailing between 1993 and 2004, 13 of which still stand Ellen surprised us all in the sailing community because she came from nowhere to become one of the best single-handed sailors in the world. We're all really glad for her; there's very little jealousy. I've met her and she's anything but boring - I can only imagine that image of her has been created by the press, looking for a story. It plays well to the media, I guess. Bob Fisher, the Guardian's sailing correspondent Ellen is a difficult person to empathise with. She moans and whinges the whole bloody time, so many people, quite understandably, are of the opinion that, given that she knew what was in store for her, she should just shut up and get on with it. There's also the fact that she's such a lone operator. I don't think she has "friends" as such, although she does have admirers - most of them French. There's never been a thought in her mind about sailing with a crew. She's always gone solo. That's just the kind of person she is.

There are a lot of people in the professional sailing contingent who wouldn't sail across the Solent with her. They feel what she does is sailing by numbers - it's a mechanical achievement rather than a skilful one. Jan Raven, impersonates Ellen MacArthur on the BBC comedy show Dead Ringers Ellen lends herself to parody, which makes it easy to make a character out of her. I've been "doing" her for two or three years, but I've wanted to impersonate her ever since I saw those brilliant documentaries with their doom-laden voiceovers and shots of Ellen crying "I've got to go up the mast." Some people don't like her because they don't want to see emotions. It's that British thing of having a stiff upper lip and putting a brave face on it. They don't want to see real pain and fear, which is what you get with Ellen. People have been saying she can't win Sports Personality of the Year because she hasn't got a personality, but I don't think that matters. I admire her, because she's not manufactured. She is what she is.

And anyway, they let David Beckham win it, didn't they?" Emma Richards, the youngest person and the first woman to complete the 29,000-mile Around Alone race I think it's phenomenal what she's achieved - she's taken on a record that was going to be tough to beat, and she's going to smash it. It's amazing. I think the word that sums her up is professionalism - we all know it's a solo attempt, but she surrounds herself with very good people, she has someone in every corner to ensure that she's fit for it, that her equipment works, that she's eating the right things and managing her sleep deprivation. Sailors don't show affection that much, but a lot of them have been out there, sailing solo, ocean sailing, and they're highly impressed. I think everyone thinks that what she does, what she's achieved, is very impressive. She's a very impressive person. Tim FitzHigham, Perrier-nominated comedian, author and rower who sailed the length of the Thames in a paper boat She's an amazing woman. I take my hat off to her completely; my sou'wester is off.

To have achieved what she has so quickly, so young, to come from the most land-locked county in Britain to be the world's greatest living yachtswoman, it's astonishing. We like losing as a nation. But it's a great shame that we can't get behind her. I think perhaps the reason that we as a nation can get behind someone like Tim Henman, but not behind Ellen is that we can visibly see Tim at close-range. We can't see Ellen - what she does is not a spectator sport. It's impossible to describe the sheer force of the sea to people in dry, cosy offices. And she's this tiny girl out there with the waves up round her ears, on her own. I think she's tremendous and I think we should be jolly proud. PLEASE USE THE LINKS ABOVE TO READ HOW ELLEN SET A NEW WORLD RECORD Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE (born July 8, 1976) is a British sailor from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight .

She is best known as a solo long-distance yachtswoman who, on February 7, 2005, broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe. She acquired her early interest in sailing by reading Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books and is the Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust which owns and operates Ransome's yacht, Nancy Blackett. She was named 1998 British Telecom/ Royal Yachting Association Yachtsman of The Year in the UK and "Sailing's Young Hope" in France. She first came to general prominence in 2001 when she came second in the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world sailing race in her boat Kingfisher (named after her sponsors, Kingfisher plc ), and subsequently MacArthur was awarded an MBE for services to sport. In 2003 she captained a round-the-world record attempt for a crewed yacht in Kingfisher 2, but was thwarted by a broken mast in the Southern Ocean.

Her latest yacht, called B&Q/ Castorama (after two companies in the Kingfisher group) and unveiled in January 2004, was specially designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret for her to break solo records. The 75-foot (23-metre) trimaran was built in Australia, with many of the components specifically arranged to take into account MacArthur's 5 foot 2 inch (1.57 metre) height. Using the yacht, her first significant record attempt in 2004 to break the westï¿½east transatlantic crossing time failed by around one and a quarter hours, after over seven days of sailing. She began her attempt to break the solo record for sailing non-stop around the world on November 28, 2004. During her circumnavigation, she set records for the fastest solo voyage to the equator , past the Cape of Good Hope, past Cape Horn and back to the equator again.

She crossed the finishing line near the French coast at Ushant at 2229 UTC on February 7, 2005 beating the previous record set by French sailor Francis Joyon by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds. On her return to the UK on February 8, 2005, it was announced that she was to be appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of that achievement, becoming, it is believed, the youngest ever recipient of this honour. Coming immediately as it did (rather than appearing in due course in the New Year's or Birthday honours lists), this recognition was reminiscent of the knighthoods conferred upon Sir Francis Drake and Sir Francis Chichester upon arrival home after their respective circumnavigations in 1580 and 1967. MacArthur was also made an honorary Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve on the same day. The new record for a single-handed circumnavigation is 71 days 14 hours 18 minutes 33 seconds, during which she sailed 27,354 nautical miles at an average speed of 15.9 knots .

Dame Ellen MacArthur was a guest star on Top Gear, appearing in Series 7, Episode 4 and achieved a lap time of 1:46.7. MINI BIO Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur, DBE (born July 8, 1976) is an English sailor from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes , on the Isle of Wight . She is best known as a solo long-distance yachtswoman who, on February 7, 2005, broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe . Early life She acquired her early interest in sailing by reading Arthur Ransome 's Swallows and Amazons books and is the Patron of the Nancy Blackett Trust which owns and operates Ransome's yacht, Nancy Blackett. She saved her school dinner money in order to buy her first boat. She was named 1998 British Telecom / Royal Yachting Association "Yachtsman of The Year" in the UK and "Sailing's Young Hope" in France.

Racing career She first came to general prominence in 2001 when she came second in the Vendï¿½e Globe solo round-the-world sailing race in her boat Kingfisher (named after her sponsors, Kingfisher plc ), and subsequently MacArthur was awarded an MBE for services to sport. In 2003 she captained a round-the-world record attempt for a crewed yacht in Kingfisher 2, but was thwarted by a broken mast in the Southern Ocean. Her latest yacht, named B&Q/Castorama (after two companies in the Kingfisher group) and unveiled in January 2004, was specially designed by Nigel Irens and Benoit Cabaret for her to break solo records. The 75-foot (23-metre) trimaran was built in Australia , with many of the components specifically arranged to take into account MacArthur's 5 foot 2 inch (1.57 metre) height. Using the yacht, her first significant record attempt in 2004 to break the westï¿½east transatlantic crossing time failed by around one and a quarter hours, after over seven days of sailing.

She began her attempt to break the solo record for sailing non-stop around the world on November 28, 2004. During her circumnavigation, she set records for the fastest solo voyage to the equator , past the Cape of Good Hope, past Cape Horn and back to the equator again. She crossed the finishing line near the French coast at Ushant at 2229 UTC on February 7, 2005 beating the previous record set by French sailor Francis Joyon by 1 day, 8 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds. On her return to England on February 8, 2005, it was announced that she was to be made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of that achievement, becoming, it is believed, the youngest ever recipient of this honour. Coming immediately as it did (rather than appearing in due course in the New Year's or Birthday honours lists), this recognition was reminiscent of the knighthoods conferred upon Sir Francis Drake and Sir Francis Chichester upon arrival home after their respective circumnavigations in 1580 and 1967.

MacArthur was also made an honorary Lieutenant Commander of the Royal Naval Reserve on the same day. Records In June 2000, MacArthur sailed the monohull Kingfisher from Plymouth, UK to Newport, Rhode Island, USA in 14 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes. This is the current record for a single-handed monohull east-to-west passage, and also the record for a single-handed woman in any vessel. MacArthur's second place in the 2000-2001 edition of the Vendï¿½e Globe , with a time of 94 days, 4 hours and 25 minutes, is the world record for a single-handed, non-stop, monohull circumnavigation by a woman. In June 2004, MacArthur sailed her trimaran B&Q/Castorama from Ambrose light station, New York Bay, USA to Lizard Point, Cornwall, UK in 7 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes. This set a new world record for a transatlantic crossing by women, remarkably beating the previous crewed record as well as the singlehanded version.

In 2005, MacArthur set a new world record for a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation in the trimaran B&Q/Castorama, during which she sailed 27,354 nautical miles at an average speed of 15.9 knots . Her time of 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds is the fastest ever circumnavigation of the world by a single-hander. Criticism MacArthurï¿½s achievements have not escaped criticism. In particular, critics emphasise the vast, near incomparable differences in the technological capabilities of present-day sailing vessels such as those used by MacArthur against those used by previous record holders. For instance, it has been argued that it is unfair for MacArthur's round-the-world feat to be compared with that of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston , who was the first person to sail solo and non-stop around the world - using a vessel constructed over 35 years previously.

Knox-Johnston himself contrasted his round-the-world voyage in 1968-69 (the first non-stop solo circumnavigation) and MacArthur's thus - "My boat, Suhaili, was small and wooden, MacArthur's boat is three times as long as mine, half as heavy and has sails three or four times larger. To navigate, I had a sextant and a chronometer. The equipment had changed very little since Captain Cook 's time. MacArthur has GPS , which updates every three seconds, telling you where you are, what speed you are doing and what direction you're going in. You don't need to navigate." [1] [2] Additional criticism stems for the argument that MacArthurï¿½s accomplishments, achieved within the highly exclusive world of power yachting, are motivated predominantly by self-promotion. In addition to her growing fame and the Damehood conferred upon her after her round-the-world voyage (aged 28), MacArthur earned, by the estimation of UKï¿½s Daily Mail newspaper, at least five million pounds (approximately eleven million US dollars) in the subsequent year.

Her boat, in a example of very direct marketing, was actually named B&Q , after the name of a chain of home hardware stores in the UK that sponsored her journey. Allied to this is the criticism and ridicule MacArthur has faced for what some perceive as her overly emotional disposition and tendency to habitually ï¿½moanï¿½ and ï¿½whineï¿½ about her circumstances whilst sailing. Her temperament is something that forms the central basis for her caricature on the BBC satirical comedy show Dead Ringers. Bob Fisher, the Guardian's sailing correspondent, commented that ï¿½Ellen is a difficult person to empathise with. She moans and whinges the whole bloody time, so many people, quite understandably, are of the opinion that, given that she knew what was in store for her, she should just shut up and get on with it...[there] are a lot of people in the professional sailing contingent who wouldn't sail across the Solent with her.

They feel what she does is sailing by numbers - it's a mechanical achievement rather than a skilful one.ï¿½ [3] [4] Popular culture MacArthur was also the last record holder on "Star In A Reasonably Priced Car" on the BBC's Top Gear television driving programme until season 8, when the rules were changed, and previous records were removed. The competition was a timed lap of a racetrack in a Suzuki Liana. She completed the lap in 1 minute 46.7 seconds, beating Jimmy Carr by 0.2 seconds. This feat was considered impressive considering that she does not drive much due to the length of time she spends at sea. It was revealed, however, that she had been bettered by The Stig who set a lap time of 1 minute 44.4 seconds. The Stig is not, though, a celebrity guest on the show, but the resident test driver. Her time was also beaten by former F1 drivers Nigel Mansell (1 minute 44.6), Jenson Button (1 minute 44.7) and Damon Hill (1 minute 46.3).

Their times were listed on a separate board as their fame is due to their professional driving status.

Question: In 2005, who became the youngest person ever to be made a Dame of the British Empire?
Answer: ELLEN MACARTHUR